Growing up in a churchy family, with a father as a Baptist pastor, I became very familiar with the way many Baptist churches treat their pastors. Communication can be at a minuminum. Postive or negative feedback is not shared until…
Re-thinking pastor appreciation
By Elizabeth Evans Hagan Last year about this time, I posted a question to several pastoral colleagues on Twitter: “It’s Pastor Appreciation Month, do you feel appreciated?” I was curious about its observance. Many of my colleagues responded back quickly,…
Being on the other side
I visit a lot of folks in the hospital as part of my job. I know how to find clergy parking. I know how to hunt folks down when the hospital staff isn’t as helpful to tell you where a…
Church: The unwanted product
I was having a conversation recently with our pastoral intern and he told me with some frustration on his face,“Sometimes I feel like I’m trying to push a product that no one wants.” (He was referring to the Church). During…
What’s your spiritual practice?
Is our faith something we are or something we practice? Last week, one of the first questions I was asked at the Chaplaincy Institute for the Arts and Interfaith Ministries while attending a training in the art of spiritual direction was: “What…
Bringing the love back
“I love you.” It takes a relationship to a deeper level like no other three words can. Where were we when we first said the “L word?” Often couples remember this moment in their dating time together more than any…
It will get better
By Elizabeth Evans Hagan It’s that time of year. Bright-eyed and empowered seminary students are completing their last papers, picking up their caps and gowns and saying goodbye to the hallowed walls of their theological training institution. For many, their…
Can we tell the truth?
By Elizabeth Evans Hagan At a recent writing workshop the presenter offered this advice. “If you want to write well, if you want to connect with your audience,” she offered, “you always must tell the truth. There’s nothing that can…
Our bodies do matter
By Elizabeth Evans Hagan First Corinthians 6:11-20 can be the preacher’s worst nightmare — a passage full of directives about sex, food and all things bodily. Yet, I chose it as part of a six-part series about God’s calling on…
How merry can your pastor’s Christmas be?
By Elizabeth Evans Hagan “Are we having church on Christmas Day this year?” Such has been a constant question asked at my office door since Thanksgiving. The answer is an enthusiastic “yes, of course we are” (even if the music…
What Twitter can teach the church
By Elizabeth Evans Hagan “You should try Twitter, Elizabeth; it would be a good networking tool for the church.” For months those words uttered by a communications specialist friend of mine fell on deaf ears. My distant impression of Twitter…
Taking a leap of faith
By Elizabeth Evans Hagan “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. By faith, Abel.… By faith, Noah.… By faith, Abraham.… By faith, Isaac.… By faith, Jacob.… By faith, Joseph.” And the list…